THESE DOG DAYS

Today we spend a day with Marcus and his Frenchie, Winky, in Brooklyn, New York.

Winky has IVDD which came on suddenly and without warning. Marcus came home from work to find him laying in the bathroom shaking and whimpering and without the use of his back legs. Winky had been fine on his lunchtime walk with his dog walker only a few hours earlier.

A trip to the emergency animal hospital confirmed that Winky would need urgent surgery as feeling to his hind legs was rapidly declining. Despite not haing insurance they went ahead with the surgery.

It’s been 2 years since Winky’s surgery and he’s slowly regained more feeling in his legs. However, complications in his recovery has meant that he has never regained his balance or movement completely. His right leg is weaker than his left. Thankfully, Winky regained full bladder control so Marcus only needed to express his bladder for the first one or two months post surgery.

Winky does seem to have weaker bowel control and they often do wake up to accidents. However, for the most part as long as he is walked to a regular routine he pees and poops outside like a fully abled dog.

Today we spend some time with Duke and his owner, Catie​, in Reno, USA.

Duke is 10 years old and has had arthritis since he was about two years old which for many years never seemed to affect his ability to run, play, jump, or to be a happy dog. In May of 2015 Duke was also diagnosed with kidney disease and pancreatitis. He was able to fight through the initial shock it took on his body, and soon after he started to get a little unstable in his back end.

Catie took Duke to see a physical therapist to help strengthen his back again and to help him maintain balance, while doing acupuncture at the vets. This seemed to slow down the process of him ending up in a wheelchair. For about seven months now, Duke has been in a wheelchair due to the nerve damage that has occurred as a result of the arthritis.

Due to these health problems he is on a strict diet and a lot of medications to keep his kidneys functioning properly. He gets a small dose of Gabapentin with dinner to help with nerve pain.​His back feet are not in the stirrups yet because he still has the function and movement of his back legs, just not the strength anymore.